It started like most mornings do now—slow, uncertain, and already heavy before anything had happened. The TV was on before I walked into the room. It always is. The volume low, the light flickering across the walls, a kind of constant presence she clings to. Her bed is the other. Between the two of them, her world has become smaller, safer maybe, but also harder to leave. She was lying on her side, facing the screen, her body still in that way that makes it hard to tell if sh

It did not begin with a diagnosis. It began with memory of her. Her mental illness arrived slowly enough that, at first, it seemed like ordinary aging. She misplaced things. She repeated a question she had asked only minutes before. We laughed sometimes, gently, the usual way families do when something petty goes slightly wrong. It was comfortable then to believe that nothing serious had begun. But over time the forgetting widened like an acre of vacant land that multiplied i

The smoke arrives first—not thick, not choking, just a thread of it, a memory made visible, curling through the still air of a room that has already learned how to hold its breath. My hand is in hers. Her skin, paper-thin, folds around my fingers like something already halfway gone, and yet—still here, still warm, still answering when I squeeze. We don’t speak. We’ve learned not to interrupt what comes. Her eyes shift before anything else does, not searching, just knowing wh

The bank clerk handled the key with a kind of practiced neutrality, like this was just another small transaction in a long day. Metal against metal. A quiet click. The drawer slid open. “My mother left instructions,” I said, though no one had asked. The clerk nodded and stepped away. Inside the box were a massive amount of documents, jars filled with silver coins, and beneath them, a stack of worn spiral bound journals. They didn’t look like something that had been hidden for

It was 2015 and I had just left a dead-end career filled with false hopes and someone else’s dreams. Years of unforeseen struggles in my...

The Napa Valley was known for many things – exquisite wines, trendy wine bars and hordes of pretentious tourists. The locals were...

Next floor – Peace I am not referring to the type of peace that comes with the physical space within an elevator. My message resonates...

What is it about Christmas that leaves most of us feeling nostalgic? Is it a notion or a magical childhood for the fortunate filled with...

It is 11:45 p.m. on December 31, 1982; the anticipation is building as Mom cranks up the volume on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve....

Our lives are constantly evolving – at least we hope they will for many years to come. Time doesn’t stop for anyone, for any reason; the...

Our lives are constantly evolving – at least we hope they will for many years to come. If you have already read the first part of this...

I was raised during an era when parents used the terms “because I said so” and “do as I say, not as I do.” After I had kids of my own, I...

It was a cold winter day and the rain poured down as I sat in my car, encouraging myself to depart my heated car seat and head in to my...

Being a true crime writer for the news can take a toll on my psyche if I am not careful. Careful to address the issues. Careful to not...

When someone said I lived in a fantasy world, I nearly fell off my unicorn. As a child, fantasy became the barrier between my peace and...

It was Tuesday, January 20, 1998, you, my son, were rushed to UCSF Medical Hospital for an emergency heart surgery procedure. You were...

“Are you sure she’s my baby?” Yes, these were the first words my mother uttered when the nurse brought me to my mother’s arms to hold for...

My aunt’s voice bellowed from the front porch before the door even opened, as my heartbeat raced with the consistency of a Cuisinart...

Why I Told My Kids of Mistakes I Made and Why I Have No Regrets I was raised during an era when parents used the terms “because I said...

It was 2015 and I had just left a dead-end career filled with false hopes and someone else’s dreams. Years of unforeseen struggles in my...